National flood resilience strategy: child rights and wellbeing impact assessment

Conclusion

7. As a result of the evidence gathered and analysed against all UNCRC requirements, what is the potential overall impact of this proposal on children's rights?

Applicable answer(s): Positive

8. If you have identified a positive impact on children's rights, please describe below how the proposal will protect, respect, and fulfil children's rights in Scotland.

The FRS will recommend that local authorities and delivery partners adopt a more inclusive, empowering approach to community engagement, involving them earlier in the process of making decisions about a place and providing up-to-date information about a community's current and future flood exposure. As part of this the strategy will encourage the use of frameworks for engaging with children and young people, and provide examples of good practice that others can follow.

Children and young people have stated that they want improved green and blue spaces in their places^[8], which can provide multiple benefits to wellbeing, biodiversity, and water management. The FRS will recommend the increased uptake of blue-green infrastructure and greenspace to improve flood resilience, and which have the potential to provide multiple benefits in both urban and rural settings, helping to respect and uphold Article 24 (health and health services) by improving the lived environment of children and young people.

In a broader sense, the evidence suggests that children and young people tend to be more vulnerable to flooding and can suffer long-term physical and mental health impacts. Flooding is set to become more impactful and widespread in Scotland over the decades to come, and therefore increasing the number of actions and delivery partners engaged in flood resilience activities can help to protect, respect, uphold and fulfil the Articles outlined in Question 5 by reducing communities' flood exposure and making the lived environment safer in the face of a changing climate.

The FRS will set out a long-term framework in Scotland for improving the flood resilience of our places, based on three key themes of people, places, and processes. The strategy seeks to reduce the exposure to and impact of flooding by increasing the range of actions and delivery partners involved. We anticipate that the FRS will have a positive impact on children's rights and wellbeing, as part of a suite of measures which are designed to support communities in adapting to climate change. The FRS will aim to benefit future generations, ensuring that the children of today and tomorrow inherit safer, more resilient places.

Flooding is an issue that has the potential to affect everyone in society and the vulnerability of children and young people will depend on a complex range of demographic, social and economic factors that make up their life circumstances. Children and young people in low-income households are most at risk to the financial impacts of flooding and associated mental and physical health impacts, which can be long lasting^[9]. The strategy will highlight the intersectional nature of flood vulnerability and recommend that local authorities and delivery partners consider this when undertaking flood resilience activities.

Flooding is our biggest climate adaptation challenge and will increase significantly in frequency and impact in the coming years. The strategy therefore will help to protect the rights of children by increasing the safety and liveability of their environment over the years to come.

9. If a negative impact has been identified, please describe below. Is there a risk this could potentially amount to an incompatibility?

No negative impacts on children's rights have been identified through the CRWIA process.

Mitigation Record

What options have been considered to modify the proposal in order to mitigate a negative impact or potential incompatibility?

Please summarise mitigation actions taken below

Issue or risk identified and relevant UNCRC requirement

Not applicable

Action Taken/ To Be Taken

Not applicable

Date action to be taken or was taken

Not applicable

10. As a result of the evidence gathered and analysed against all wellbeing indicators, will the proposal contribute to the wellbeing of children and young people in Scotland?

Safe: Yes

Healthy: Yes

Achieving: Not Applicable

Nurtured: Yes

Active: Yes

Respected: Yes

Responsible: Yes

Included: Yes

If yes, please provide and explanation below:

Research has identified that children and young people are a group of people most affected by flooding. Research has shown flooding can affect physical and psychological health and that the FRS may contribute positively to children and young people's wellbeing. This applies to the following wellbeing indicators: Safe, Healthy, Nurtured, Active, Respected and Included. Question 8 details further information about how these may be impacted.

11. How will you communicate to children and young people the impact that the proposal will have on their rights?

We are not publishing a child-friendly CRWIA however we will be publishing an easy read version of the FRS. Consideration will be given to publishing child-friendly versions of any specific flood actions that are taken forward as a result of the FRS. The CRWIA will be published on gov.scot alongside the strategy for those wishing to access it and has in so far as is possible been written in accessible language so children and young people reading it can understand its content and the potential impact on their rights identified in the assessment. We will inform the CPEN when the CRWIA is published so they are aware of how their input has helped to inform the assessment.